Transformers Titan: Mosiac
by kira444
Summary: Sequel to Distant Stars. The stories of Autobots and Decepticons fighting across the galaxy continue as threats both physical and metaphysical threaten the very stability of the cybertronian civil war.
1. City of Rust

Transformers Titan

Mosiac

Chapter 1-City of Rust

The Orvus Autobot base was an orbital station situated within moderately held Autobot territory far from the front lines of the war. While sporting some decent soldiers, it was far from a forward operations base, instead acting as a research station. But what they were researching was top secret. Odd considering that Orvus was located in no strategic location other than the uninhabited planet Salvvatan VI.

Personally, Goldbug was fine with not knowing what the lunkheads in the research department were working on. Top secret info was a scary thing to deal with, as seconds after learning what the big secret was, you would immediately be taken into a world of deception and misery that only ended poorly. It was a bit of an exaggeration, but Goldbug didn't make it long into this war by being nosy. If the Autobot scientists were keeping something secret on orders from on top, then he'll keep his mouth shut.

Besides, he wasn't a scientist or a theoretician or some fancy weapons developer. He was a Throttlebot. His team was known for being among the fastest Autobots in the eastern divisions, serving as couriers, spies, scouts and saboteurs. They're job was to be the escape plan in case the base was attacked; with Orvus being little more than a trumped up research station, the Throttlebots were tasked with keeping the info from falling into enemy hands. General Backfire had stationed them there because he had faith in their abilities and skills in case things got ugly around there, what with the recent battles involving some unknown enemy.

That didn't make things not boring though. Being something other than a scientist or warrior made for some pretty dull cycles for a spy or courier without any immediate missions on standby.

"I'm just saying, I think Glyph is totally into me. I mean, she was giving me glances the entire time we were talking about her archeological find on Athenia."

"You mean when she was talking and you were just nodding your head acting like you knew what she was talking about." Goldbug told his friend. "Searchlight, I know you were there during Thunderwing's second awakening, but that's nothing to brag about when all you did was hang back with Dogfight. Glyph isn't the type of femme to go for bots with the alpha male mentality."

"Don't kill my buzz, Goldbug, please." Searchlight said, taking a long, hard swig of his mostly spiked energon. "I barely see her enough as it is and I constantly worry if she's alright. You'd worry to if your crush was hanging out with that pyromaniac Flareup."

Goldbug shook his head. He didn't like complaining, but this was unbelievably dull. When his team was reassigned to Salvvatan VI, he thought he would be one of the most active bots on the field. This…this was just torture. And how the hell did he get stuck talking to Searchlight about his relationship problems?

"Hey, Goldbug." Searchlight said, catching his attention.

"Yeah?"

"What do you think is down there? On that planet?" Searchlight asked, referring to Salvvatan VI.

"We're not going over that again, Searchlight. That's info privy to bots way above our pay grade. We're messengers; we just deliver the messages and get the hell out of the firing line. That's it." Goldbug said.

"But I'd like to know why the hell we're even here in the first place. We're better helping out the intelligence division or the Special Forces, not slumming it out here. Hell, even Chase is getting a little antsy."

Goldbug rubbed the back of his head, unable to really deny that. Chase was the friendliest of the Throttlebots, always greeting even Autobots he hasn't even known existed with a smile. But sitting around on this space station wore away at even Chase's optimism.

"We have our orders, Searchlight. You know that." he said. "If you want to take it up with Wingbat…"

"Hell no, that's suicide." Searchlight blanched. Wingbat was the femme who sent the Throttlebots to the base in the first place. A member of the Autobot Special Forces, she ran a tight ship, and was possibly scarier than even Ultra Magnus when riled up. "But what could make this slightly more bearable is if we knew-"

"No." Goldbug shot that idea down immediately. "We're not snooping."

"But-"

"No, Searchlight. Whatever it is, it's probably too dangerous for us to even know about." Goldbug said.

Searchlight knew better than to press any further, knowing that Goldbug was right even though he didn't want to admit it. "Okay, you win. Let's go get some energon goodies. I hear Big Daddy's got some secret stash somewhere in storage."

"For a guy who lifts weights in his downtime, he sure knows how to work his magic around a synthesizer." Goldbug commented.

Goldbug was proud to be an Autobot, but it was moments like these that he looked forward to the most. The moments where he wasn't being shot at by dozens of Cons at once. Wholesome moments with his team and closest friends.

It was a shame that they never last in this long war.

XXXXXX

The attack without warning and without mercy. Due to the stealth capabilities of the attacker, and that fact that he was folding in and out of realspace, no one detected it until it was too late. It was only when the proximity sensors went off that the Autobots went into action.

"Hull breach in the second level!" Big Daddy reported. "Whatever that thing was, it's not natural, that's for sure."

"Send section 2 security teams to the location." Commander Gasket said, eyes on the security monitors. "If this is an attack, then we need to-"

Gasket went quiet, as did the other mechs in the room when they saw the live footage of a massive green and white mech tearing through the Autobot security teams in his way. It was the Decepticon Phase Sixer, Sixshot.

"S-Sixshot? What the hell is he doing here?!" An Autobot cried out.

"How did he find this place?"

"We're so dead!"

"Game over, man. Game over!"

"Everyone, shut up!" Gasket shouted. He was as terrified as they were of the prospect of fighting the Decepticons' executioner, but they had a job to do. "If Sixshot's here, then chances are he's here for the base's info. We cannot let that data fall into enemy hands, especially Sixshot's."

"Orders, sir?"

Gasket downloaded as much data as possible in the time frame he had into a data slug and gave it to an officer. Find Goldbug and give this to him. Have the Throttlebots board an escape shuttle and move out at once!"

"Yes sir!"

"Commander, Sixshot's breathing level three. He's coming our way, sir!"

"No surprises there." Gasket muttered. He reached down to unholster a large photon cannon from the bottom of his chair and hefted it onto his shoulder. "It's been a pleasure serving with you all, Autobots. Now let's show this glorified thug we'll all die with dignity."

"Yes sir!" His troops changed, also reaching for their hidden weapons.

They didn't have to wait long for Sixshot to reach them. He had torn a path of carnage up from the seven level onward in his beast mode, leaving behind the shredded remains of the Autobot security teams that tried to slow him down. He ran through the hallway and tore through the doors to the command center to get inside, only to be met with a barrage of weapons fire.

"Give him hell!" Gasket yelled, firing his photon cannon at full power.

Sixshot's upper body was assaulted by a barrage of weapons fire that would've liquefied a normal bot, but only left scorch marks on his armor. It barely felt any more painful than a sting, but it did annoy him. "I don't have time for this!" He grunted.

He changed into his cannon mode and fired a single powerful neutron beam into the room. That one blast killed three Autobots and devastated the computer system. Three more soldiers were severely wounded by the explosion. Sixshot was swift with his kills, blasting most of them apart with his cannons and ripping others apart in his beast mode. It was more fun to rip his enemies apart in beast mode for some reason.

In a matter of minutes he had killed everyone save the commander, whose legs he crushed. Gasket was bleeding large amounts of energon as he propped himself up on his chair, his lower body only a mess over wires and scorched metal. Sixshot stood over him and stared down at the broken Autobot stoically.

"What? No…no victory speech?" Gasket laughed. "I thought you Cons always loved a good mono-"

Sixshot's hand shot down and grabbed the Autobot by his chest plate, lifting him up to glare at him in the face. "I'm not in the mood, Autobot. I'm keeping you alive to tell me where your data core is. This base doesn't have one and I know you've hidden the info. This base doesn't have one and I know you've hidden the info. Tell me, I'll allow you to die slowly amongst your fallen comrades."

Something caught Sixshot's attention in one of the still working monitors. He looked over and saw a ship flying past one of the external cameras-a ship. Gasket gave him a weak smile.

"There it goes." He laughed weakly. "Sucks to be you, doesn't-"

Sixshot wordlessly crushed is head in his hand and tossed the body aside before stomping back out of the hole he made.

He wasn't kidding when he said he wasn't in the mood.

XXXXXX

Goldbug clutched the data slug in his hand as he struggled to keep the shuttle on course. None of the Throttlebots were particularly skilled pilots, but he just focused on keeping the ship from breaking apart so he didn't have to think about the massacre that was assuredly going on back at the space station.

"Why are we running? We have to help them!" Rollbar said.

"Sixshot's taken out whole Autobot divisions, Rollbar, you think we'll fare any different by going back? The only think we'll accomplish is adding more names to his body count." Searchlight said. He grunted when the ship gave another worrying groan. "Goldy, could you hold the damn ship steady already?"

"I don't know how to fly a ship, Searchlight. I'm just winging it!" Goldbug said. "Scrap, this ship's not going to hold up if we don't hit the lower atmosphere soon!"

"Wait, look!" Wideload pointed out the window to a massive canyon that came into view as they broke through the clouds. Goldbug didn't know what he was pointing at until he saw a large mass of metallic grey on the ground that stood out amongst the rustic brown landscape.

It was a city. Salvvatan VI had signs of life-cybertronian life from the looks of it. The buildings were definitely made to cybertronian scale.

'What's a city doing here? Commander Gasket never told us about anybody living on Salvvatan VI.' Goldbug thought. Suddenly the ship shook again.

"Scrap, we're doing to fall apart!" Searchlight shouted.

"I'll hold her steady until we can land in that canyon down below." Goldbug pulled back on the controls and maneuvered the unstable ship to slow its descent with forward landing thrusters. He didn't relent even as the ship's bottom scrapped across the ground, holding onto the control sticks with enough force to chip the mesh on his hands. He didn't let go until he felt the ship come to a stop and everyone nervously opened their eyes.

"By the Allspark, we're alive!" Chase shouted and hugged Rollbar. "We're alive!"

"Get off me!" Rollbar pushed him off.

Searchlight and Wideload peeled Goldbug's hands off the control sticks. "Goldy, you okay?" Searchlight asked.

"Y-Yeah, Searchlight, just vowing to never fly a ship of any kind again." Goldbug shivered. "Come on, we need to haul aft before Sixshot finds our trail."

The Throttlebots quickly exited the ship and transformed to vehicle mode, where they sped off down the canyon towards the faint outline of the mysterious city.

XXXXXX

By the time the Throttlebots were halfway to the city, Sixshot had entered the planet's atmosphere in jet mode, descending to the planet without a care as he followed the shuttle's invisible ion trail. He found the abandoned ship crashed inside a canyon and shifted to his beast mode. Landing on the ground with a thump, he sniffed the air for the scents of his prey.

'Did they really think they could run from me?' Sixshot thought. 'I'm honestly insulted they thought they could escape so easily.'

His sensors detected six different scents leading away from the crash site out of the canyon. Judging from the exhaust fumes, they did so in vehicle mode, driving at full speed towards that…city?

"Intelligence never said anything about this planet being inhabited." Sixshot muttered. Those morons would need to change their name if stuff like this gets overlooked. "Oh well, time to go hunting."

His body rearranged itself again and shifted into his tank mode. He drove out of the canyon and in the direction of the lone city sitting idle in the distance. He was just starting to have a good time, and he wasn't about to let a couple of low rank grunts ruin it.

XXXXXX

The whole city was definitely abandoned. Or it was empty. The buildings were a mixture of bronze and copper, with deep red markings along the buildings and even the streets. The Throttlebots had explored almost every building in their way but found no signs of habitation and detected no life signatures either. It was as creepy as it was odd. What was even weirder was that they even found supplies-rooms full of energon cubes, medical wards, even weapons storage. Cybertronians did live here, but everyone was gone, seemingly without a trace.

"This place is a ghost town." Goldbug said, looking around at the empty streets. It was way too quiet for his liking.

"A ghost town with supplies. Creepy, but I'm not complaining. Found some energon here, folks, and a swirly straw for you, Goldbug." Chase handed everyone an energon cube. "Let's fuel up. If the Cons' hellhound is still coming after us, we might as well be in top shape."

"Top shape to do what? I saw him take on am army, Chase…of Wreckers!" Searchlight said. "Our best bet is to run. Get off this planet and get out of his way."

"And how are we going to do that? Our shuttle is trashed and I'm not seeing any hangar bays around here." Rollbar said, crossing his arms.

"Not to mention he can fly after us while also trying to kill us." Wideload said.

"Exactly!" Rollbar exclaimed.

"Um, maybe is isn't following us anymore?" Freeway nervously suggested. "Why would he? We don't have anything he would want."

His teammates all gave him equal looks of exasperation and disbelief that made him wish he hadn't said anything. Goldbug, being the good mech that he was, was kind enough to not call him stupid to his face.

"Do you really think that, Freeway?" Goldbug asked slowly. Freeway lowered his head and shook it.

"Not really, no. sorry."

Goldbug looked at the empty city. It looked grand and large scale, but out of place on this planet, which didn't even have any suitable natural energy sources. Why was this kept secret? There was nothing particularly outstanding about it from what he could see, and from the looks of things, no one had lived here for stellar cycles.

"Maybe they have a secret experimental weapon in development somewhere." Wideload said.

"Or maybe we're sitting in a colony! You know, one of the last ones from the Golden Age!" Searchlight said.

"If that's the case, then we better watch ourselves. Many colonies were cleaned out because of the Rust Plague. If this is one of those colonies…" Goldbug trailed off, but his team still got the message.

"We're all going to be having a bad day." Rollbar said.

"Then let's stop yapping and roll out." Chase said, still balancing the energon cubes in his arms. "I'm already tense about Sixshot, worrying about a lingering rust diseases is too much for me."

"Then how would you like an outside opinion."

"No…" Goldbug whispered in horror and looked up to see the large form of Sixshot standing atop one of the buildings across the street. The Con was in his robot mode and had his neutron cannon in hand. He didn't look very happy with them.

"Surrender now, hand over the lab's information and you'll all die painlessly." Sixshot said, getting straight to the point. "You don't want the alternative."

"Am I wrong in believing that if we don't have the information, you'll have to torture us?" Goldbug asked.

Sixshot pointed his gun at them. "Something like that."

"Yeah, I thought so." Goldbug nodded and looked at his team. "Throttlebots…ROLL OUT!"

The team transformed to their vehicle modes and sped away, leaving Sixshot in the dust.

"At this point, I probably should've seen this coming." Sixshot muttered. He changed into his beast mode and grinned a toothy grin. "Time to play."

He ran after the Autobots at full speed, moving incredibly fast on four legs despite his large size. He fired his twin plasma cannons at the fleeing Autobots, blasting Chase and Freeway off the street. Chase went crashed through a wall, but Freeway changed forms in midair and landed unsteadily on his feet. He shot at Sixshot, but the laser blasts bounced off Sixshot's dense armor. Sixshot leapt into the air above Freeway and changed into his tank mode, right above the Autobot!

"Frag!" Freeway tried to run, but he was crushed under the immense weight of Sixshot's tank mode. The Con made sure to grind his treads on the Autobot's chest, brutally ripping away strips of his armor and causing immense pain.

"I'm sorry, little mech, I hope I'm not too heavy!" Sixshot taunted. He detected someone on the rooftops behind him and spun his cannons around to fire at the sneak. "Nice try, idiot!"

Sixshot's twin plasma cannons shot two blasts that hit Wideload in the chest, blasting him right off the roof. Not even sparing him a second glance, Sixshot transformed to robot mode and picked up the damaged Freeway by the neck.

"Now are you going to talk, you mouthy little bastard?" He growled. All he got was a pained groan. "I thought not."

Sixshot looked around at the empty street around him. "Come on out, Autobots! Pretending to run scared only to launch a surprise attack is impressive. You're a lot braver than most of my targets." He yelled into the streets. "But it's meaningless. The game's over!"

Goldbug and Searchlight appeared from their hiding places and pointed their guns at Sixshot. The six changer gave a pleased grunt and tossed Freeway aside without a care.

"I saw you on the moon of Bhul during the Gorlam Prime affair. You were Ember's slave, practically a drone doing her bidding." Searchlight said.

"That was then, this is now. You'd be surprised at what you can trade for Kopesh's technology. Shockwave got access to dolem stargate technology and failsafe overrides and I got my freedom back. Everyone wins…except you." Sixshot said.

"You're smarter than that, Sixshot. We're scared, not gutless." Goldbug said. "We're Autobots. Not born for war, but warriors all the same. We'll go down fighting."

Sixshot chuckled. "So be it."

Rollbar drove at Sixshot from behind, ramming into his feet and slapped two shape charges onto his back and detonated them. He had just enough time to land on his heels before a large foot hit him in the chest and knocked through into a wall, crashing through the other side.

"**Intruder alert! Perimeter breached! Intruder alert!"**

Sixshot looked around at the security monitors that were flashing red with the alarms blaring loudly. "What perimeter?"

"Now, Searchlight!"

Sixshot spun around and got hit with two plasma blasts to the face. Searchlight advanced on him with a twin-barreled photon cannon, shooting his weapon rapidly, without a care for overheating it. Sixshot actually took a couple of steps back from the facial assault, but any damage he took was surperficial. Once he regained his bearings, Sixshot transformed to beast mode and charged into Searchlight, slamming him inot a wall.

"That actually stung." Sixshot hummed. "Nice try."

"Shut up!" Goldbug jumped onto Sixshot's back and stabbed his vibro-blade into the Con's left shoulder joint. Sixshot, not expecting to actually feel pain, roared and threw Goldbug off his back.

"You little bastard!" Sixshot growled. He changed into his space gun mode and fired a blast that sent Goldbug tumbling down the street. "You're starting to piss me off!"

"Good to know!" Searchlight yelled back, leaping onto Sixshot and planting something on his back. "Happy trails!"

"Wha-"

Sixshot's body vanished in an explosion of flames as the two phase charges Searchlight stuck onto his body detonated. Searchlight was knocked onto his back by the wounded Goldbug by the blast wave, but remained unharmed.

"I hope he gets a headache from that." Searchlight grumbled. He limped over to Goldbug, who was bleeding energon from his wounds. "Come on, Goldy, we need to haul it before thunder-lion wakes up."

He reached down to pull Goldbug onto his back, but froze upon hearing a voice behind him. "Never take your eyes off an enemy."

A large hand grabbed Searchlight and slammed him into the ground. Sixshot, covered in burns and positively fuming, repeatedly slammed the Throttlebot into the ground before tossing him into the air and punching him in the chest. Searchlight bounced off the ground multiple times before skidding to a stop a few feet down the street.

"Never thought a group of couriers could put up more of a fight than actual soldiers. Very admirable, honestly." Sixshot said, flames licking at his slightly burnt but mostly undamaged head. He walked up to Searchlight and pointed his rifle into his face. "You know me, Autobot. Tell me, are you afraid?"

Searchlight coughed a little and then grinned. "N-No."

"Really? Well, you should-" Sixshot roared in pain as a crimson blade was stabbed into his back and tore through his chest, just under his laser core. A feat that should have been impossible, given his durability.

He stared at the blade sticking out of his chest and looked back at his attacker. It was a mech, deep green and red, almost as tall as Sixshot and just as armored. What caught Sixshot off guard was how similar this mech looked to him.

"Who…" Sixshot tried to ask, but hissed as the mech pulled the blade from his back.

"Leave," He ordered. "Now."

"Who the hell are you?" Sixshot growled and spun around to shoot the mech that dared cut in on his mission.

Before he could do anything, the mech jumped back and transformed into a tank with four cannons, two on each side. He fired them all at once at Sixshot, focusing all his fire on the Con's chest would. Intense ion bursts burned into Sixshot's armor, and his mind was riddled with so much pain that he began to feel numb.

From the sidelines, Searchlight was watching the battle with a look of awe. "By the Allspark, this guy's really fighting Sixshot…and winning!"

"Search…light…"

"Goldy!" Searchlight leaned over his beaten comrade and help him up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but it hurts to move too much." Goldbug groaned. "Who's…the new guy?"

"No clue, but he's fighting Sixshot and doing a damn good job so far, and that's all I can ask for right now."

Sixshot and the nameless mech were fighting in their tank modes, though the damages Sixshot had sustained were slowing him down. Frustrated, Sixshot switched to his gun mode and fired an ion blast at his opponent, who turned into a large jet and flew away.

"Die!" Sixshot roared, firing his cannons at the fast moving mech. The mech easily evaded his shots with a Seeker's skill and dived towards Sixshot. "That's right! Come at me!"

The mech transformed again, this time into a gun. Sixshot had just enough time to be surprised at the speed of the mech's transformation before he took a powerful particle blast to the chest, blasting him out of the air. He hit the ground and changed back into robot mode, his body smoking and sizzling. His opponent transformed and landed on the ground in robot mode as well.

"This isn't possible. I'm the only one with six alt modes!" Sixshot growled. His playful demeanor had turned into one of rage as he yelled, "Who the hell are you? What are you?"

"I am Quickswitch, guardian of this fortress." The mech said calmly. "Now if that's all, I must insist that you leave or else."

"Or else what? On who's authority do you have the right to threaten one of the strongest Decepticons in history?"

Quickswitch pointed behind him. "Hers."

Sixshot felt the ground rumble and shake and turned around as a massive shadow fell over him. He actually cried out in shock as a massive fist rose into the air, and slammed right down onto him. The impact shook the entire city and could be felt for miles in all directions. The hand remained there for a moment before slowly rising up to reveal Sixshot's damaged but still functioning body.

"You still function?" Quickswitch hummed curiously.

"I…a-am Sixshot!" Sixshot sneered, trying to move his broken body. "Megatron's elite-"

The fist slammed down onto him again…and again…and one more time, each time deepening the crater that Sixshot was buried inside. After the last punch, the large fist pulled back, and revealed Sixshot…or what was left of him. Not a single piece of the phase sixer's body was in one piece, his body parts were shattered like shards of glass, energon pooling from ruptured power lines, and a faint outline of what used to be his head sat motionless in the dirt.

Goldbug and Searchlight looked up and gaped as the fortress at the heart of the city began to transform, parts slowly reconfiguring into a colossal mechanoid, who slowly stood to its feet at its full height of two miles into the air.

"What the fanbelt?" Rollbar exclaimed as he ran up to his friends. "The hell is this?"

"A Titan," Searchlight whispered. "Like Metroplex, but…different."

The Titan looked down at the little Autobots at its feet and bent down slightly to address Quickswitch. Goldbug couldn't help but marvel how the morning sunlight reflected off the Titan's red and orange armor.

"**Quickswitch," **The Titan said in a deep but clearly feminine voice. **"Our position has been compromised. We must leave at once."**

"Leave? Why do you want to leave?" Rollbar asked.

"**To hide. You found me. Others will too." **She said.

"Hide? You can't hide! There's a war going on! You have to join us!" Searchlight yelled. "You just smashed Sixshot apart with one hand! How can you refuse?"

"We have no part in your chaotic war. We have our own problems to deal with." Quickstrike looked up at his Titan, his creator. "There are those who would hunt beings like Kappa-Titans who hold incredible power. I must keep her safe and away from those who would abuse her power. I'm sorry."

Goldbug stopped Searchlight before he could argue further. "We…understand."

"You'll find supplies inside for your friends. There's a shuttle at the edge of the city in hangar 205." Quickswitch told them.

"So you're just going to abandon us." Rollbar grumbled. "That's swell."

"**I have a mission. A purpose."** Kappa said, her body slowly turning back into her fortress mode, now hovering on giant thrusters. **"I week for all cybertronian lives lost, but I cannot help them. Farewell, Autobots."**

Quickstrike transformed into jet mode and flew up into one of Kappa's exhaust ports before the Titan began her ascension. The three Throttlebots watched her fly away into the brightening sky, and into space, quiet possibly never to be seen again.

"Well, that was both amazing and disheartening." Searchlight said after a long moment of silence.

"Can't believe they just up and left us." Rollbar shook his head.

"We can't expect everyone to join the fight against the Decepticons. And you hear her, apparently someone's hunting Titans for their powers. Can't exactly let the Cons get their hands on them." Searchlight said.

"So this world was a colony that never got off the ground. I wonder what happened to make a Titan go into hiding." Goldbug said.

"Who knows?" Rollbar shrugged and looked into the crater where Sixshot's mangled body sat. "At least this bastard's dead."

"Come on," Searchlight said, walking away with Goldbug hanging on his shoulder. "Let's go find Freeway and WIdeload. They need help too."

Goldbug looked up at the now blue sky and gave a little prayer to the Titan and her lone child, quiet possibly the only cybertronian she forged since landing on this planet. Looking around the city, Goldbug realized how lifeless it felt without Kappa's presence animating it. Everything seemed dead now.

'I wonder how long it will be,' Goldbug thought. 'Before this city falls to rust?'

* * *

**Here you go, the first chapter of the sequel to Distant Stars! It took way too long to get started on this chapter, and updates might be slow as I focus mainly ****on Devastation, but rest assured, you'll get some good stories in this one like in DS, as well as continuing storylines from Distant Stars. You can check this story out on the Transformers Titan on Wordpress. ****Thanks for reading, and please leave a review. **


	2. The Wild Hunt

Chapter 2-The Wild Hunt

Tracks had never put much thought into how he would die. Funny, given the global war going on right now. It was something that never fully crossed his mind until now, though he supposed it was only because of his near death experience that he was even thinking about sappy things like his future…or his past.

Sitting outside in the courtyard of the Autobot base he was stationed in, Tracks spent the evening after he was released from the medical center watching the sunset. They were stationed in the city of Ultirex, so he had a good view of the orange sun slowly sinking below the horizon. It was one of those 'You never realize how beautiful something is until you almost lose it' moments Kup would sometimes mention in his war stories. Tracks called the old mech a kook, but it seemed that Kup was right about something for a change.

"Tracks!"

Tracks looked back and smiled when he spotted Jazz heading his way, pristine silver armor gleaming in the sunlight, spotless as ever. The Special Operations agent looked relaxed as always, a calm smile on his face. Tracks liked Jazz, he was a cool mech, a guy almost everyone liked and a great soldier as well. He was good at what he did and was cocky about it.

"Hey, Jazz." Tracks said.

"Good to you up and about. I was worried after I heard about what happened on your mission." Jazz said. "Some trial by fire, huh?"

"Yeah, we—I was lucky." Tracks sighed. Jazz frowned and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't start blaming yourself, you hear? The Cons you went up against were trained killers from the day they were forged. Too much for a group of rookies." He said. "I'm just sorry help came too late."

"No, that's not true! They came as fast as they could! Things just got really crazy there." Tracks said defensively.

"Do you know who rescued you?" Jazz asked. Tracks shook his head.

"No, my optics were damaged in the initial attack. But I was still coherent enough to hear his voice." Tracks chuckled. "You wouldn't believe how it went."

Jazz smirked and took a seat next to Tracks. "Try me."

XXXXXX

**Simfur, one week ago**

It was his first combat mission. When Tracks had graduated the Autobot Academy, he was assigned to commander Flint's unit. Tracks was a bit nervous, but ultimately confident, for his unit leader was an Elite Guard member. You couldn't screw up with that line up. Typical rookie naiveté. It didn't matter how good you were, anything could change on the battlefield, especially if things didn't appear as they were.

"You nervous, Tracks?" Switch asked him.

"Nervous? Nah!" Tracks grinned. "Those Cons won't stand a chance with me on the team!"

"Rein that cocky attitude, soldier." Flint said, walking up to them. Flint was a no-nonsense mech who made sure to curtail any signs of arrogance or overconfidence that may sprout in rookie Autobots before it became a real problem. "If there's one things that's more deadly than Cons, it's thinking you're tough slag when you haven't even seen combat yet."

"I wasn't being arrogant, sir." Tracks blurted out.

"That certainly wasn't normal confidence either, Tracks." Flint grunted. "There's a thin line between arrogance and confidence, kid. The only difference is that one can get you killed faster."

"We're reaching the drop point!" The pilot announced.

"Got it. All right, cadets assemble!" Flint yelled. Once his team gathered around him, he gave them a quick rundown of how things were going to go down. "This is your first field mission, so I'm going to make this very clear. Our primary objective is to evacuate any surviving civilians and repel any Decepticons in the area. This is a simple search and rescue mission, so remember your training and stay calm. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" They chorused.

Flint cracked a smile. "Then let's roll out!"

The dropship landed and Flint's team disembarked in formation. The location they were deployed in was a wayward town between Ibex and Simfur. There was a distress call asking for aid when a Decepticon unit began battling a local group of bandits, with the civilians caught in the middle. There hasn't been any sword from the militia protecting the town since then, but right now their main task was locating any refugees.

'Easier said than done.' Tracks thought grimly. The town was an absolute mess. The Cons had caused a lot of collateral damage and it looked like a certified warzone. There were bodies strewn across the ground, many of them in pieces, not a single one intact.

"Primus, who could've done all this?" Switch muttered. This wasn't just collateral damage. It was a massacre.

"Who knows, who cares, I just hope we can find anyone still alive in this dump." Tracks said.

"Cut the chatter." Flint said, looking around at the carnage. "Keep your heads on a swivel. Whoever did this might still be in the area. Logos, you have any readings?"

"None, sir. I'm not detecting any biosignals." Logos reported, switching to his thermal optic lens. "And I'm not detecting any life readings near us either."

Flint nodded. "Okay, let's spread out and scan the area. We might get a clue as who did all this—"

A gunshot rippled through the air and Flint's head exploded in a burst of metal shards and energon. Tracks, who stood right next to him, screamed as his commander's energon splattered all over his face.

"Contact! Contact!" Tracks yelled, raising his laser rifle. His teammates all entered formation in a circle, trying to find the sniper.

"Where is he?"

"I don't know where the shot came from. Did anyone see it?"

"The commander's dead! Who's in charge now?"

"We can't just stay out in the open for a sniper to pick us off!"

Tracks was trying not to lose his cool, but his comrades' panicked reactions were making it hard to focus. "Everyone shut up! Logos, can you find who fired that shot?"

"I'm searching, but I'm still getting nothing." Logos said. "Quickly, we need to leave at once!"

Tracks went to say something when another bullet, an explosive round, pierced Logos's chest and blew out his entire chest cavity. Tracks was pushed to the ground by Switch, who took a shot meant for him right in the back of his head. Tracks wasn't sure if his friend was dead yet when another round hit the ground and blew up. The last thing Tracks saw were the bodies of his friends being blown apart just before a large piece of debris fell onto his face.

XXXXXX

Tracks didn't know how long he was outcold, but he knew it was a long time. He woke up lying on his back covered in debris and all he could see were shadowy outlines filed with static, which meant that his optics were damaged. He painfully sat up and got to his knees, searching the ground aimlessly for a weapon, something he could use to protect himself.

"Oh god…Switch? Logos?" He called out feebily. A sob worked its way up his throat. "Is anybody there?"

At this point, any bravado he started this mission with was completely gone and now he was struggling not to break down. "Please, is anybody still alive?"

Then he heard something large land right next to him, followed by footsteps. He screamed and scrambled back in fear, but the mysterious person spoke to him.

"Whoa, hold up there, buddy. I'm a friend!" Jazz said cautiously, walking over to Tracks. "I'm with a recovery team. You're Tracks, right? From Flint's unit?"

"Y-Yeah, but he's dead. They're all dead, killed by a sniper." Tracks hissed as a sharp pain in the side of his head made his vision distort. "My eyes…my optics sensors are damaged. You…are you a friend?"

"Yup. We're here to get you home. Up you go!" Jazz helped Tracks to his feet and kept him steady. "Glad to come home with at least one of your guys alive. Transport, whenever you're ready. We've got our tickets."

A transport shit flew in low to pick them up. "Copy that. Prep for pick—"

A particle beam hit the craft from its left side and blew it out of the sky. Jazz cursed as he watched the shit explode from the critical hit and explode, crashing to the ground in a flaming ball of wreckage.

"What was that?!" Tracks exclaimed.

"Something bad." Jazz replied. "Can you transform?"

"I don't think so…my T-cog's damaged. And even if I could, I still can't see, so unless you have a tow cable hidden somewhere, there's—"

"Okay, okay, I get it." Jazz interrupted and wrapped Tracks's arm around his shoulder to help him along. "Hard way it is, then."

Unknown to the two Autobots, they were dead to rights in the laser scope of the sniper who wiped out the Autobot team.

"Two survivors, heading north. One of 'em's injured. Being led by the mech we've been tracking." The sniper said. "Shall I take them out from here?"

He was answered with a deep chuckle. "Such an anonymous impersonal kill? No, a worthy prey such as he deserves a more hands on approach."

A low growl rumbled from the chest of the orange and gold mech watching their prey from afar. The hunt was on.

XXXXXX

Jazz and Tracks took refuge in a half-destroyed building just a few feet from where the ship was shot down. Slipping in through an opening, Jazz gently set Tracks down against a wall.

"That's enough distance now. We'll stop here for a bit." Jazz said. He started taking out what weapons he had on hand to fight with.

"What are you doing?" Tracks asked after hearing Jazz shuffle around.

"Weapons check. Whoever shot down the shuttle might come back to finish the job. We'll need to be able to bite back." Jazz looked at his arsenal. An EMP grenade, two flash grenades, three explosive grenades, a plasma blaster, his laser nunchucks, and his wrist-mounted vibro-blade. Not much to work with, but he could probably still manage if he played his cards right.

"With what? I doubt a single rifle can take out an entire Decepticon unit at once." Tracks said.

"True, so we'll need to improvise a little." Jazz replied.

"So you're actually going to take them on?"

Jazz grinned. "Not me—us."

Tracks groaned. "I'm going to die."

"Look, I know this is hard for you, but if we work together like Autobots should, we'll make it through this." jazz packed everything away before smiling at Tracks. "You're just going to need some faith."

"Faith." Tracks whispered. Jazz nodded and stood up.

"It's best if we're out of here before—"

"AUTOBOTS!" A thunderous bellow roared from outside. Tracks jumped.

"Wha—"

Jazz shushed him and extended a small camera from his wrist to take a peek outside. What he manage to see made him curse.

"Scrap."

"What can you see who it is?" Tracks asked, dreading the answer.

"Yeah," Jazz muttered. "It's the Predacons."

At that moment, Tracks came really close to breaking down right then and there. The Predacons were a prime example of an elite unit, a team of Cons with predatory beast modes and highly trained in not just combat, but also tracking and hunting. Each Predacon had their own skillset, but their biggest advantage was their uncanny teamwork that was rare among the Decepticons. Considering they were under the command of the formidable warrior Razorclaw, they were a dangerous team. Far too dangerous for two Autobots to handle alone.

Outside in the ruins, Razorclaw stepped forward, the golden-orange leonine head on his chest gleaming from the light of the flames around him. In his hand was a long golden broadsword that looked just as dangerous as his claws.

"Make it easy on yourself, Autobots," Razorclaw said. "Surrender now and we promise a quick and painless death!"

"Well, a quick one at least." Headstrong remarked.

"We should just kill them now. Why make them choose for us?" Rampage asked.

"So that no matter what decision they make, they'll have to live with it in death." Razorclaw answered, his eyes scanning the ruins for any sign of movement.

In their hideout, Jazz and Tracks processed this new unfortunate development the best they could with the little time they had.

"Guess that explains how both our teams were wiped out so easily." Tracks said.

"Yup." Jazz said.

"This is really bad, isn't it?"

"Yup."

"Do you have a plan?"

"Yup."

"Care to share it?"

"Yup." Jazz said with a straight face and looked at Tracks. "You're going to pick a fight with them."

"What?!" Tracks spun his head to where he thought Jazz was (Jazz adjusted his head a little to fully face him, but he was mostly accurate) and nearly screamed. "You want me to go pick a fight with the Predacons? The PREDACONS?! I'm blind and barely conscious! Primus, are you mad?"

"Tracks, look at it this way. Normally in this situation, I'd try and make a run for it, and if were any other five Decepticons out there, it'd probably be enough. But it's not. It's the Predacons. Doesn't matter how fast or how far we run, they'll catch us. But if we work together and trust each other, we'll make it through this. So," Jazz smiled. "Are you with me?"

XXXXXX

"Why are we waiting?" Rampage growled impatiently.

"Yeah! Let's just start blowing the place up." Divebomb said. "We can smoke 'em out in a flash."

"Temper your eagerness." Razorclaw scolded his team. "We are waiting because our adversaries deserve a chance to show some hon—"

A laser bolt hit the ground in front of them. The Predacons stared at the scorch mark on the ground before slowly lifting their heads up to Tracks, who wobbled blindly into view with his blaster. The poor Autobot was shaking like a leaf, and he could hear the angry growls rumbling in Razorclaw's throat.

"Did I hit anybody?" Tracks asked.

"No," Rampage growled. "You didn't."

"Oh. Well, l-let's get this over with, you stupid animals!" Tracks yelled.

"You greasy little—" Headstrong snarled but was cut off by the striking sound of Razorclaw's sword being drawn.

"Foolish Autobot. We've killed fellow Decepticons for less than this. I was planning on being lenient on you, save all our fun for your friend," He said, swinging his sword in anticipation. "But since you've so eloquently thrown down the gauntlet, it'd be rude of me not to answer in kind!"

Razorclaw was about to charge Tracks when he heard a strangled cry from behind. He spun around and saw Jazz chop Headstrong in the neck, severing one of his neck cables before grabbing his arm and breaking it at the elbow. Jazz snatched up his sword and slashed Headstrong across the chest.

Jazz didn't waste a second before transforming and ramming right through them. "Okay, I'm coming in fast, so brace yourself. The minute I sweep out your feet, be ready to grab hold tight!"

Jazz swerved into Tracks, sweeping him off his feet. Tracks quickly grabbed onto Jazz's hood, barely dodging the rocket Tantrum shot at him. Jazz sped away, leaving the Predacons in the dust.

"Come back here, you cowards!" Tantrum shouted. He changed into his bovine beast mode, snorting superhot steam from his nostrils while Rampage changed into his tiger beast mode.

"No, you fools!" Razorclaw yelled at them. "It's a trap!"

Just as he said, as they gave chase, Rampage and Tantrum ran past one of Jazz's grenades and triggered it, causing it to explode right under them. Both Predacons were engulfed in a massive fireball and were blown away from each other, sporting severe damages.

Tracks heard the explosion and laughed shakily. "H-Holy slag, did that actually just work?"

"Don't honk your horn just yet, bro! We're not out of this yet!" Jazz said, driving into one of the narrower streets for cover. "There's still two more Cons left!"

XXXXXX

Divebomb whistled as he studied his unconscious teammates. Having a grenade explode right in your face was no fun and hurt a lot no matter how badass you were. Rampage and Tantrum were blown right into their robot modes before falling into stasis lock from their injuries.

"Didn't think the bastard was this crafty. He actually took three of us out in just a few minutes." Divebomb said.

"Jazz is a crafty Autobot. His reputation proceeds him, as expected of a former student of Yoketron." Razorclaw said. He stepped over the smoking bodies of his teammates and looked around. "They're still nearby. Transform and hunt them down."

Divebomb did so without question, his body transforming into a large black and orange bird of prey. "What about you?"

"I'll hunt him from the ground." Razorclaw's body also transformed into his bestial alt mode, a powerful looking orange and golden yellow lion, his large leonine head coming to life with a bellowing roar. "We'll play this smart. He'll never be able to fight us both!"

XXXXXX

"Scrap, the bird's airborne." Jazz said when he saw Divebomb circling above them in his beast mode.

"Is that bad?" Tracks asked.

"It means Razorclaw is playing it safe and smart. Can't fight him with bird brain hovering over us." Jazz frowned.

Jazz and Tracks were huddled together under a pile of rubble, hiding from the last of the Predacons and taking the time to go over their plans. Tracks was still terrified, knowing the strategy of baiting them won't work again, and they were close to being discovered. Jazz was basically all alone in this fight with him being blind and weak.

"I have to admit, Autobot, I'm impressed. It's very rare to meet a soldier like you who is smart enough to systematically take us out. You have my respect." Razorclaw called out, his voice deep and gruff in his beast mode. "But I have run out of patience, and you have run of out places to hide. Let us end this as warriors!"

Jazz waited until he was sure Razorclaw was far enough away before turning to Tracks. "How are you holding up?"

"Holding up? We're stranded and trapped with two Predacons out there waiting to tear us apart." He replied scared. "All the stuns and tricks did nothing to help us. Everything that's happened was for nothing. They're going to kill us and—"

"Stop it!" Jazz yelled, making Tracks jump. "That team on that shuttle, my friends, they have their lives to rescue you and protect our way of life! Don't you dare say they died for nothing!"

Tracks hung his head in shame. Jazz sighed and poked the younger mech's Autobot symbol.

"When we put this badge on, we made a promise. A promise to ourselves, a promise to the people of Cybertron, a promise to every other Autobot in the past, present, and future." Jazz continued. "We don't give up. We don't lose hope. Hope is what keeps even people like Megatron going in touch situations, and if you lose hope, then you're spitting in the face of those who gave their lives so people like you and me can maintain our way of life. Don't you ever, ever, forget that."

"I'm…I'm sorry." Tracks said.

Jazz patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, you're stressed and scared, I get that. But don't forget that I plan on getting us out of here."

"So what do we do now?" Tracks asked.

"We don't do anything. You're going to pick a direction and start walking. I'll do my best to buy you some time." Jazz said.

"What?! No!" Tracks exclaimed and tried to stand up. "You won't stand a chance against the two of them! I can—"

"Uh-uh, you've already done enough. This is how it's got to be. Besides, if I do get killed," Jazz sent Tracks a grin, even though he couldn't see it. "It's better for me to go out in style."

Jazz climbed out of their alcove and flipped off the pile of rocks in a showy display of acrobatics. Razorclaw saw him coming and quickly changed forms, blocking Jazz's kick with one of his own.

"Here you are!" Razorclaw said with savage glee. "I knew you'd never turn down a challenge!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night." Jazz replied, jumping back to take out his nunchucks.

From above, Divebomb swooped in, transformed to robot mode and slashed at Jazz with his sword. The Autobot spun out of the blade's path and kicked Divebomb in the face. Razorclaw jumped up and slashed at Jazz, who leapt back and slammed his nunchucks into the Predacon leader's face. Divebomb attacked him from behind, forcing Jazz back towards Razorclaw, who got off a cut on Jazz's left arm.

Divebomb jumped back and took out his sniper rifle to take a shot at Jazz's legs when he heard a loud engine roar behind him. "What the-?"

Tracks zoomed out of his hiding spot in vehicle mode, speeding down the street at full speed. He was driving completely blind, going by the blurry shapes through his static filled vision, and focused on the winged outline of Divebomb. Jazz and Razorclaw watched in shock as Tracks slammed into Divebomb at full force and sent them both crashing through the wall of a half-destroyed building. Neither mech walked away from that.

"Heh, your friend has a warrior's heart after all." Razorclaw said, impressed. "Now where were—"

He turned back just in time to see Jazz lunging at him. The Autobot landed a solid blow to Razorclaw's face to knock him back, making him lose his grip on his sword. Razorclaw quickly righted himself and blocked Jazz's next attack with his arm, spinning around to elbow him in the chest. He swiftly disarmed Jazz of his nunchucks and landed two punches to his face before Jazz caught his fist and slammed his knee into Razorclaw's abdomen.

Razorclaw stumbled back and growled at Jazz before charging at him. He lashed out at Jazz with a punch that the mech barely blocked, but then he grabbed Jazz's arm and pulled him in for a headbutt to his nose. Jazz broke free, but Razorclaw pressed his assault, attacking with his claws and left several deep cuts in Jazz's armor and landed a deep gash in the Autobot's side. Jazz winced and faltered, giving Razorclaw the chance to punch him hard in the chest with enough force to knock him over.

Jazz got to one knee and held a hand to his bleeding side, energon pouring profusely from the wound and coating his hand. Razorclaw went over to his discarded sword to retrieve it before walking back over to Jazz.

"It was a pleasure hunting you, Jazz, but you're days of harassing your enemies are over." Razorclaw said and raised the sword over his head. "I'll be sure to preserve your body as one of my greatest trophies."

Jazz prepared to rush at Razorclaw before he could get the chance to deliver the final blow, but before he could, a plasma beam was fired from above, hitting Razorclaw in the chest and blasting him away into a building in a fiery display.

"Huh?" Jazz looked up and saw an Autobot dropship hovering over them, with someone on the side-mounted turret. Grinning up at the Autobots above, Jazz glanced over at the place where Razorclaw was blasted. As expected (for Jazz) the Predacon was long gone, though there were bits and pieces of his armor lying around where he had hit the wall.

"Jazz!" It was Ironhide. The red Autobot hopped out of the ship and ran over to him.

"Hey, Hide." Jazz stood up, clutching his wound. "How'd you find us?"

"Same as we usually do." Ironhide smirked. "Just follow the explosions."

Jazz was quickly ushered into the ship while two medics retrieved Tracks from the rubble and brought him onboard. The young Autobot was unconscious for the entire flight back, and the rest of the night afterwards, but when they patched up his optics, and Jazz briefed Ironhide on the Predacons.

"The Predacons, scrap. I can't believe they were in the area." Ironhide sighed. "A damn shame that Flint's team ran into them. And you were lucky to have made it out too, Jaz. Taking on all five Predacons is something even I wouldn't do on a whim."

"I know, but I promised Tracks we'd get out and that's exactly what we did." Jazz looked over at the sleeping Autobot. "As long as I saved at least one life, that's all I need to know that I did my job."

XXXXXX

**Present **

"You're lucky to be alive." Jazz said.

"I am." Tracks replied and looked at the setting sun. "That mission…Primus, if it wasn't for that Autobot, I would've been killed along with the rest of my team. Just knowing that I was so close to death like that was scary."

"It is. War's not about glory, it's just a means to an end. A lot of bots like you go into this war thinking they'll be the next Kup or Ironhide, but a lot can go down even if you're constantly vigilant." Jazz rubbed the back of his head with a sigh. "What happened to Flint's team is, unfortunately, becoming more and more common these days with teams like the Predacons showing up in the field." He looked down at Tracks. "You going to be alright, kid?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just need to…process this a bit before heading back into the fray." Tracks said. Jazz nodded and turned to head back into the hospital, but before he went inside, Tracks called out to him. "Jazz!"

"Yeah?" Jazz said, not turning around.

"…Thanks."

Jazz smiled. "Anytime."

* * *

**Yeah, this took three years to update. Sorry about that, I sort of lost interest in this fic for a while after hitting writer's block with the first draft of the ****early chapters. I found it easier to work on the mainline series instead and focused a lot on that. Hopefully I think I can get back into the groove with Mosiac, ****but I'm not making any promises. Anyway, that's Jazz's chapter, based off of Tracks' spotlight comic. Stay tuned for the next chapter, in which Seaspray ****connects with a native on a frozen water world while dealing with a team of naval Decepticons pillaging the poor natives. Be sure to check out the official ****Transformers Titan website on WordPress. Thanks for reading and please leave a review!**


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